Ok, this is starting to get really dumb. I could see this happening once or twice, but three times in one season? In December the blogosphere was calling for a boycott of Doritos after some Christians saw a random Crash the Super Bowl entry called “Feed Your Flock” that seemed to mock communion and assumed it was the company’s official super bowl ad. Then about 2 weeks ago the Internet freaked out again after two random, non-winning, gay-themed Crash the Super Bowl entries were mistakenly reported to be Doritos’ official Super Bowl commercials. None of those ads ever had a chance in hell of airing on TV so people were pretty much getting worked up over nothing.
But now, according to MSNBC, one of the actual commercials that did win the Crash the Super Bowl contest has managed to set the internet “on fire with a growing backlash.” The ad at the center of the controversy is entitled Love Hurts and was directed by a 28 year-old filmmaker named Brad Bosley. (it was actually one of my favorite ads to make the finals.) You probably saw this when it aired during the first quarter of the Super Bowl on sunday but here it is again:
Now here are the different reasons why people are upset about this commercial:
1. The ad promotes negative stereotypes about black women. This is the big one. Some people feel that the ad portrays black women as being violent, controlling and jealous.
2. The ad promotes negative stereotypes about black men. Some feel that the commercial makes black men look like spineless wusses who let their wives push them around and who can’t resit the temptation of a pretty white girl.
3. The ad is an example of reverse racism. This is a less popular argument but some people think the the ad is anti-white because a black character hits a white character possibly because she was white.
As I said, complaint #1 is the big one that’s going around. Here’s the MSNBC story about the controversy.
I gotta wonder, is that woman in that clip actually offended or did she just use this “controversy” as an opportunity to repeatedly plug her book? Anyways, the story is all over the place; The LA Times blog, NPR, Essence Magazine’s site….even Rush Limbaugh stopped shoving pills and pie into his mouth long enough to talk about the ad. (except Rush said the “Love Hurts” was successful because black women really do hate blonds) But this morning this story plunged even deeper into the crazy-zone when Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) took the floor of the congress to criticize this ad as racist. Let me repeat that in bold, red font:
Today, a United States congresswoman denounced a video contest entry from the floor of the House of Representatives.
And man…I thought making it to the Super Bowl was the big time! Now if you think that’s insane, wait ’till you hear the kicker. No one in the media seems to realize that Love Hurts was a consumer-made ad! I guess a lot of Super Bowl viewers didn’t catch that Pepsi Max was part of the Crash the Super Bowl contest this year. So all the people who are pissed about this are criticizing Pepsi Max for intentionally making a “racist” commercial. I mean, I even saw one blogger who said that Pepsi intentionally cast an unattractive African American because the character was supposed to be the bad guy. For God’s sake, I’ve seen a number of people who are upset that “pepsi” cast a dark-skinned African American because they assume that Pepsi must think that darker-skinned black women are meaner and more controlling than lighter-skinned black women!
Anyone who took the time to figure out who made “Love Hurts” would realize that those accusations are totally baseless. I’m not sure where Love Hurts was filmed but apparently the director is from Kansas. Would some dude in Kansas with no budget actually sit and conspire to cast certain types of people to get across some secret and offensive narrative? Or is it more likely he just cast whoever he could get? Hell, I bet the hot blond will turn out to be his cousin or something.
For the third time this winter, Fritolay had to put out a statement explaining that one of their “commercials” was actually made by a consumer as part of a video contest. However, it does sound like Pepsi was aware that the ad might stir up some trouble. Here’s part of what they said.
“We vetted this ad with our external ethnic advisory board as well as nationally recognized community activists and leaders all of whom believed the ad highlights the key product attributes in a humorous way.”
Interesting. Anyways, I hope this is the last Crash the Super Bowl “controversy’ post I do this season. What’s ironic is that I thought Love Hurts was kind of a progressive ad because the director seemed to engage in color-blind casting. This will sound kind of goofy but I thought it was cool that two characters of different races could engage in slapstick without everybody freaking out. Yeah…guess I was wrong about that one. I also thought the ad had kind of a sweet message to it; the woman isn’t messing with the guy because she’s mean. She’s messing with him because she loves him and wants him to not die. Watch the ad again. That dude was trying to eat a whole pie by himself. If anyone could benefit from some tough love, it’s him!
2/10 Update: Ok, this is funny. Check the comments to this post for an anecdote about the filming of Love Hurts. One of our readers was actually filming his CTSB entry in the same park in LA at the same time as the Love Hurts crew. And Love Hurts was definitely no amateur production. I checked and the budget of the ad was only $800 though. So why the director cast the actors he did is a mystery. Thinking about it, if he had cast a really old couple I bet the ad would have landed in the Top 3 on the ad meter. Old people hurting young people is always a crowd-pleaser.
2/11 Update: The actor from Love Hurts left a great comment to this post last night. He gave some insight into the the production, the director’s intentions and the controversy. If you’ve read this far, please click the comments button to check it out!
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wow. they all need to realize that these things are put together with $0.
I get my casting from Craigslist for gods sake. It always comes down to how many people can be in the park on a particular day, at a particular time.
I bet the races of these people never even entered the directors head.
hey so funny story about “Love Hurts” I shot my Pepsi Ad “Magic Max” in a park in Hollywood, and on this day they were actually filming “Love Hurts” they had a huge setup, red camera, catering, etc. They also seemed to be filming a scene in which the African American guy actually sees if the woman he hits is ok, he kneels down to her on the ground, but I guess this was cut for time. They also shot on the very last weekend of the contest.
Haha. Shane thanks for the info. I’m going to add a little update to the post.
Beardy it has been so difficult for me not to chime in on all of this buzz since I’m the guy in the ad. First, thanks for giving us props early on in the voting competition and in how you’ve handled the backlash of conjecture and opinion.
I won’t offer any details but the 2 comments posted above are as on the head as it can get. Except, I’ve worked on a number of professional national commercials, and I can tell you we did NOT have a “huge setup.” Yes, we had a Red camera but Panda Express on a picnic table doesn’t really measure up to “huge.”
I’ve said this on another blog, if the cast were a single race (or old people) the main issue would’ve been about men being “typical” and I doubt women would’ve been as upset. As actors with a taste for subversive comedy and backgrounds from Second City, on the page, the script was funny to us as the couple. Especially when the character breakdown was MAN, WOMAN, JOGGER. Amazing how color…colors.
I think the consensus is that some thought SHOULD be put into casting because it effects the final product. Just as an example, many people don’t know that Will Smith was offered the role of Neo in the Matrix first but turned it down for Wild Wild West. To say the least, that would’ve changed the vibe and message of the film. Casting counts.
Finally, I hope and pray this situation does not discourage future film makers from casting ethnic actors/friends. Also, I hope future contestants dig deep and create ads with strong positive “violent & crotch-shot-free” messages across the board. It seems that the days of slapstick comedy have officially died…along w/ a small piece of America’s sense of humor.
What surprises me that a few people on here complained that an African-American female assaulted a “pretty white girl” which was stated a few times if you read the past blog.
But the overall conclusion is that a white guy actually wrote & directed the script. (not one person physically came out and said he was white)
He without a shadow of a doubt cast a ‘Big Bertha’ type black woman to boss around her ‘bald headed’ brother.
Did I find it offensive no I did not. Did I see the stereo type from the beginning? yes I did
Beardy whats up with your buddy the king?
A few weeks ago he talked about not biting that hand that feeds you.
Now he’s upset b/c he didn’t win the Trident assignment, he goes to explain that the videos didn’t follow the guidelines.
This is what he wrote about CTSB about a month ago.
Okay, so I was a bit tounge-in-cheek while titling this blog, but a recent eye-opening blog post over at Video Contest News suggests that most freelance creatives live in a self absorbed La-La land where they think they are owed, and being unfairly singled out and put upon by the very corporations who are giving them the best access to the advertising industry to date. It smacks of a classic anarchistic case of ‘biting the hand that feeds you‘.
COLD HARD FACT: A freelance creative either has something that
can benefit the brand and as a result receives compensating for it,
or that creative otherwise means nothing to the brand….and I mean NOTHING. – Written by Jared Cicon-
JARED I HOPE YOU’RE READING! I love poptent & I have nothing bad to say. I started submitting projects & I will keep submitting.
NOW YOU KNOW WHAT IT FEELS LIKE!
Never assume you know anything about things you know nothing about. Turn off the conspiracy theory and ask yourself a question from the perspective of Occam’s Razor. What’s more likely? That a 28 year old white guy conjured up a plot against black people and white women in an effort to get famous OR that he wrote a simple script and cast whoever he could get at the last minute on a favor?
Beardist,
The other problem I have with Jared is if you go to the trident “road side assistance” video that was purchased Jared left this comment
This would be a killer :30 spot. The story is perfect for the :30 television format. Hopefully you will also submit a shorter version. Maybe, Trident will recognize the brilliance …award you the top spot and then work with you to reduce it to a broadcast friendly :30 size. I know I would love to work with the footage. I could knock this one out of the ballpark.
WTF!!!! This guy totally reneged on what he said. Jared what do you have to say about that?
http://www.npr.org/2011/02/14/133750467/Domestic-Violence-Is-Never-Funny?sc=fb&cc=fp
for the record, i see nothing wrong with this ad, its really well done and I enjoyed it, i find it funny the press blows all this out of proportion.